


Sunny skies and cold days

by Beatonen



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - School, i guess, something short and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-28 21:46:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18214049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beatonen/pseuds/Beatonen
Summary: Every kind of interaction can be important, even if it's only small ones.Sometimes, these interactions can become more significant than one might think.





	Sunny skies and cold days

**Author's Note:**

> Heeeeyyyyy another story that nobody asked for!!!
> 
> So yeah, it's just a little thing that I was thinking about today, and I thought it was sweet, so here it is!

It was a quiet Tuesday, as the sun was shyly poking its nose through thick patches of clouds, sending warm rays into the classroom and pooling on her desk as she would simply bask in this comfortable warmth, closing her eyes to better appreciate it. The teacher’s voice was droning on and on about one subject or another, but for the moment, she simply decided to enjoy this.

It was spring, the weather slowly warming after an awfully long and dark winter, and she was decided to take her dose of sun even though she was confined in class. She always took one of the desks near the windows exactly for that.

Cracking one eye open, she peered around to the other desks, finding the entire body of students in the room bored out of their minds as some of them where doodling on pieces of papers, or just zoning out as they didn’t even try to be subtle about it. Some, even, were lazily scrolling through their phones.

Well, everyone, except one.

Her neighbor, as she liked to call her, seemed to always sit at the same desk, and as she was always on the same spot too, this girl was the only person she saw almost as often as her friends. The girl had long, silken white hair that fell all the way to the girl’s waist, held up in a high, off-centre ponytail, and she had the most mesmerising blue eyes she had ever seen.

Not as deep as a sapphire, nor as electric as a summer’s sky, but… like a winter’s early morning blue. Not quite powder blue, but added with just a tad of ice.

The girl was always scribbling something in her notebook, always taking notes even though she might be the only one in the entire class to do so. She had to give her credits where credit was due. The girl could blacken pages and pages of notes as the teacher kept rambling on one topic to the other.

Now maybe there were others, that were studious like her, but… There was just something about this girl. She never talked to anyone. Arrived in class first, and left first, too. Raising her hand high and straight whenever she knew the answer, which was almost every time.

The girl had perfect scores, without surprise. She had peeked maybe a time or two at her neighbor’s card. Not that she wasn’t any good; she had good scores, great even, but not _perfect_.

Every other day, when they had classes together, she would come to class while it was nearly empty, finding the white-haired girl already seated with her textbooks and notebooks open and ready to be used, pen already in hand as she sat with her back straight, waiting for class to begin.

Whenever their eyes met, the girl would offer the tiniest nod of greetings, and she would return it.

It had always been like this. They had never exchanged words, but they somehow understood each other. When one of the clowns of the class would say or do something stupid, the girl would more often than not roll her pretty blue eyes to her, lock their eyes together for a second with a shake of her head before returning her attention at the front of the class, the moment already pushed aside.

Months went by, with the girl as her neighbor like clockwork. She’d come in, a little nod, spend the next three hours sitting side by side, then leave to come back at the same place three to four times a week.

Some students missed a couple of classes, some stopped to attend altogether, but not the white-haired girl. Now that girl might be the most constant thing she had ever seen in her life.

Until, one day, the girl wasn’t there when she came to class.

Stopping in front of her neighbor’s empty desk, she frowned as she looked it over, wondering where the girl was. Maybe she was just late or something. But class started and the white-haired girl wasn’t even there, for the first time ever.

A pinprick of worry blossomed in her chest as the hours ticked by with no sign of the blue-eyed girl. Where was she? Did something happen?

She found it strange then, when the teacher asked a question and no one hurriedly raised their hands to answer or when the same guy, who miraculously still attended class, made some horrible joke, she had no one to share her annoyance.

Class ended with still the resounding absence of her neighbor, and she stared a moment more at the empty desk beside hers, wondering where the girl was.

She didn’t know why it bothered her this much. Maybe it was because she could always count on her to be there, always. She herself even missed a class or two, but as far as she knew, the girl never did.

Next class came, and she went with haste, finding the room empty as she had come earlier than she ever did. So she seated herself at her usual spot, glancing at the desk beside hers, wondering if the girl will be there today.

But she wasn’t. Class started again, and again, her neighbor’s absence felt even more present now as no one was according attention to the teacher. She stared at the desk hardly, the worry that had settled in her chest spreading, now.

Was she sick? Did she have an accident? A plane crash? A shipwreck? Did she move to another school, in the middle of the year? Her mind was rampant, searching for a reason for the girl’s absence as she tried to remember her name, wondering if she could ask for news to their teacher or something.

But she came up blank. She didn’t think the teacher ever did a rollcall in class.

The class ended again with no trace of the missing girl. Once again, she stared at the neighboring desk with a glare, wishing it could just tell her what happened with its usual occupant.

But, without surprise, the desk didn’t reveal anything and she felt like a fool.

Next class came, and she arrived late.

Walking to her desk that was wonderfully still free even though the room was packed and feeling the reproving stare of the teacher, she nearly gasped when, finally, the desk next to hers was occupied.

The girl looked utterly ran down, wearing an oversize sweater _and_ a scarf, with her nose and eyes red, but the girl still lifted her winter blue eyes at her, offering the tiniest nod, as usual.

She responded in kind after coming out of her shock, offering a small smile even as she sat down, and the idea of leaning over and welcoming the girl back with actual words flirted with her mind until she was interrupted by the white-haired girl coughing, trying to be as discreet as she could.

It sounded dry and shallow, as her neighbor huddled herself deeper in her sweater, clearing her throat quietly before raising her hand to answer a question.

She grimaced when the girl needed to clear her throat again, her voice sounding weary and incredibly croaky.

Oh. The girl was fighting a really _bad_ cold.

As she glanced over the contain of the girl’s desk, she found it absent of water, or any kind of liquid, and as the time for the ten minutes break was drawing closer, a plan formed in her head.

The cafeteria was a bit far, but if she was really efficient, she surely would make it before the class started again.

And so, she was standing at ready on her seat, muscles coiled and ready to bolt as soon as the teacher would give the word. She noticed how the girl kept rubbing her temples and her eyes, but the white-haired girl never piped a word, besides the occasional coughs.

As soon as the teacher dismissed the class for the break, she immediately dashed across the class and found herself in the hallway, running at top speed as she tried her best to avoid crashing into other students, practically flying through the corridors and jumping down most of the stairs, until she skidded to a stop at the cafeteria, quickly gathering what she needed, moving to the counter to pay, then returned as quickly as she came back to class.

She made it in time, drenched in sweat after her mad dash down and up three floors to the other side of the building, but it was still with a smile on her face that she fell in her seat, before setting the water bottle, a bottle of ibuprofen and even some supplement drops of vitamin C on the girl’s desk, causing her to let out a startled little sound.

As her winter-blue eyes were taking in what had been dropped on her desk, class started again, and she kept smiling to herself when she saw the girl hesitantly open the bottle of water, before taking a tablet of ibuprofen and washed it down with water. Then, ripped the corner of the supplement drops, popping one in her mouth as she sat back in her chair, humming quietly.

She was wondering about writing the girl a note when a folded piece of paper landed right in front of her on her desk, and she blinked at it for a second before glancing at her neighbor, who was already back at taking notes.

Furrowing her brows, she unfolded the paper, and felt her eyebrows rise at the beautiful handwriting hidden there.

_Thank you. The supplement tastes good. But I keep wondering what you want in return? Say the word and you will have it._

Blinking again, utterly confused as she looked up again at the girl, who seemed to ignore her, she simply shrugged her shoulders, grabbing her pencil to scribble a reply, grimacing at her bad-looking handwriting.

_For you to get better?_

Throwing the folded piece of paper, she watched it as it landed right on the girl’s hand before tumbling down on the page, and she leaned her head on her closed fist as she watched the white-haired girl set her pen down calmly before meticulously unfolding the paper. After reading the short reply, winter-blue eyes looked up at her for a long moment, seemingly gauging how honest she was being. Then, the girl scribbled something on the paper but instead of throwing it back on her desk, the girl simply held it for her to read.

_Really? There isn’t anything else you want?_

When she looked up, the girl was observing her with a delicately arched eyebrow, the only sign of her doubt, but she shook her head simply. The girl stared at her, disconcert, and she gestured to have the paper back, which the white-haired girl gave back instantly. Scribbling something more, she returned the paper to her neighbor, who took it cautiously, as if it was about to explode in her hands the next second.

_I took notes of the classes you missed, if you want you can copy them!_

Unexpectedly, a scowl formed on the girl’s features as she took a few seconds to write something, not even bothering folding the paper before throwing it back on her desk, and this time the girl seemed legitimately mad for some reasons.

Troubled by her neighbor’s reaction, she took the paper to read what she had written.

_Why are you being so kind? What do you want?_

Sending another confused look to the white-haired girl, she turned the paper over so she could write on the space there.

_I don’t want anything? I just want you to get better, nothing more, nothing less. I was a bit worried when you missed two classes, I mean, as far as I know you never skipped one!_

This time, she offered the paper instead of simply throwing it, and she waited for the girl to lock her eyes with her when she took the piece before letting go. Taking a moment to finish the notes she was taking before reading what was on the paper, the girl took an awfully long time with her eyes glued to the paper, apparently reading it over and over again, her entire being still aside from her eyes.

Then, the white-haired girl took her pen again, and this time she looked hesitant, setting the point of her pen down before shaking her head, then set it down again, apparently hesitating with what she wanted to say.

Finally, the girl seemed to find the right words, because the next time she set the point down on the paper, she looked decided, a stubborn set to her jaw before she passed the paper over with a slight nod.

_That is very kind of you. I assure you, you didn’t have to go out of your way for me, as I can take care of myself. However, if it is not too much trouble, I would like to copy your notes, as I need them to prepare for the oncoming exams. When are you free, so we can review them together?_

She looked up from the note to her neighbor, meeting her hesitant stare a second after, before offering a bright smile, the worry that had spread in her chest now suffusing and leaving place to the warmth of excitement.

Hurriedly scribbling something on the paper, she set it directly on the girl’s desk, instead of just throwing it, and her neighbor took it hastily, almost nervously reading over her answer.

_Tell me when you’re free and I’ll be there!_

Eyes of winter mornings were leveled to her, and the white-haired girl timidly returned her smile as she still held the paper in her hands.

The voice of their teacher suddenly so close to them made them both jump in their seats.

“Miss Schnee, Miss Rose,” the man arched one of his bushy eyebrows as his dark eyes passed from one another. “If you really need to talk this badly, wait for the end of class, otherwise I will confiscate this paper and read it out loud to the rest of the class.”

Both of them wordlessly dipped their noses to their respective notes and books while some students in the room snickered, but as the class went on, she kept glancing over at her neighbor, and every time their eyes met, the girl smiled a bit, and her eyes weren’t so cold anymore.

Well, now it looked like the sky of midday winter, now. Just a bit warmer.


End file.
